Jenson Button questions whether George Russell has the ‘backing’ of Mercedes race engineer

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Jenson Button has questioned whether George Russell has the same “backing” from his Mercedes race engineer as teammate Kimi Antonelli amid their intra-team title fight for the 2026 F1 championship.

Since joining the grid as a wide-eyed 18-year-old at the start of last year’s F1 campaign, Peter Bonnington has been an integral part of Kimi Antonelli’s development with the works Mercedes team.

Your championship standings after the Austrian GP! What has this win done for George Russell’s title chances?

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Having worked with the likes of Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, and Jenson Button, the race engineer has worked with the very best of the best, with all six of Hamilton’s titles as a Silver Arrow coming with ‘Bono’ as his right-hand man.

Bonnington has seen shades of Schumacher in Antonelli since he made the step up to title candidate at the beginning of the current term, and one could argue that the Italian’s uptick in performance has come from the Briton backing his driver to perform at such a high level.

On the other side of the garage, Button is under the impression that George Russell may not be receiving the same level of “backing” from his own race engineer, Marcus Dudley.

• READ MORE: Alex Brundle urges Peter Bonnington to tell Kimi Antonelli one thing if he wants Silverstone win

Jenson Button questions the ‘backing’ George Russell gets from his Mercedes race engineer

The differences in approach by each of Mercedes’ race engineers were on display during the recent Monaco Grand Prix, in which Antonelli put on a masterclass to claim his fifth consecutive victory of the season.

While Bonnington was proactive with Antonelli’s strategy, Russell had to question Dudley on what he was supposed to do during the various incidents that brought out the safety car in the race.

The 19-year-old’s strategy was executed perfectly and was undoubtedly a key part in his trip to the top step of the podium after the chequered flag fell.

During Viagogo’s Paddock Pass ahead of the British Grand Prix, Button told select media, including F1 Oversteer, “People don’t understand how important the relationship is between an engineer and a driver. Yes, I do think Bono is a really good influence on Kimi.

“They obviously have a good rapport, like Lewis and Bono did, like I did when I was with Bono. I think that relationship is really key to them getting the best out of him, and working together to develop that car into a way that Kimi likes it.

• READ MORE: Kimi Antonelli has forced Peter Bonnington to do something he never did as Lewis Hamilton’s engineer

“It does feel that the car has gone a little bit away from what George’s style requires. I don’t know if he has the backing from his engineer to be brave enough to go and try something different, because their driving style is completely different.

“You need to try other things if you want to get the best out of the car for your style of driving. We’ll see them both adapt through the season to what works for them. It just needs to be done pretty quickly, I think, with both of them, especially for George’s side of the garage.”